I've been resisting the urge to go out and buy equipment. This Canon T3i cost me $150; I bought it off a guy on marketplace last September and I've been trying to make the best of it. It's a slow grind trying to learn about composition, color, post editing and the like. It's amazing how vast the subject of photography is when you really start to look at it.
Sure, you could buy the high-end Hasselblad and I'm sure that the 100 megapixels, computational filtering, and exceptional high dynamic range would make a huge difference, but I think it's important not to skip the learning and suffering phase.
The Post-Japan Adjustment Period
It's a real thing. I can tell you that for sure. I visited Osaka with my wife in September of 2025. We stayed for two weeks and really put in the effort to go look at things. When I returned to the states, I honestly could not believe how different it is. Forget culture shock, it was a reverse culture shock. From clean, orderly, and polite to semi-organized chaos. It's a different universe over there, and I'm very grateful I was able to visit when I did.